The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1887-09-29
Address by J. G.. Harper, 56th O.
V. /.

COMRADES, SONS OF VETERANS AND
FELLOW CITIzENs-It devolves on me
to address this assembly in behalf of
the 56th Ohio Veteran Regiment, and
for once in my life [ would wish to
be eloquent, that I might represent
this regiment as it deserves to be. But
having served in the capacity of a
farmer these many years, am not used
to speaking to assemblies of this kind;
but I know that when | am in the
presence of old soldiers [ will have
their sympathies, even if l lack elo-
quence. To-day | am in the presence
Of the men who by my side stood with
me in the ranks twenty five years ago;
who with me heard the thunder Of
the mighty siege guns, as for f6fty-
two consecutive days we stood in
those hot sultry bitches before Vicks-
burg, vigilantly watching every mo-
tion Of the enemy. And not only
them, but here are the heroes of An
tietam, Stone River, Chickamauga,
Gettysburg, Missionary Ridge, Look
out Mountain, and Atlanta Yes, the
men who gained worldwide renown
by their famous march from Atlanta
to the sea. Yes, the participants of
almost every great battle fought dur
ing the war are here to-day, to talk
over the past-to take each others
hands, to look once more on each 9TH
er With some Of us it will be the
last time. We will never all attend
another Reunion. Then. dear COM
rades, let us all endeavor to do all in
our power to make each one happy.
But | must briefly give you a
sketch Of my own regiment. The
56th Ohio was organized at Ports
mouth, in the fall of 1861, Col. Kin
ney and Col. Raynor being its COM
manders. February Is, 1862, we were
ordered to the front, and arrived at
Fort Donelson at 3 o'clock on the
morning of Feb. 18th. Not In time
to take part in the battle, but in time
to see the fruits of the victory. Also
in time to see the cost of victory, as
many Of the dead were still unburied.
March 7, 1862, we were ordered to
Paris Landing, ON the Tennessee Riv-
er. Here we embarked on steamboats,
and by the 18th or 18th of March
were at Pittsburgh Landing. We
were formed into military organiza-
ton and placed in Gen. Lew Wallace's
Division at Cfump's Landing. 1t
may be Of some interest to you to
know the names and numbers Of our
old command under Gen. Lew Wal
lace: First Brigade, 11th and oath
Indiana and 9Th Missouri. Second
Brigade, 1st Nebraska, 29d Indiana,
5sth and 68th Ohio. Third Brigadt,
Goth, 56th, 10th and 18th Ohio. We
were one of the five divisions compos-
ing Gen. Grants army. We heard
the first sound of the picket firing on
April 6, 1862, and were in regimental
line of battle as soon perhaps as even
the front lines Of Gen. Sherman's Di-
vision. We heard the crash of battle
as Gen. Hardee's corps of Confeder-
ates struck Gen. Sherman's line of
infantry near Shiloh Church, and as
successive crash after crash was borne
to our ears on that still morning air,
we became confident that great bat
tie was in progress, and Gen. Wallace
ordered US to be ready to move at one
moments notice. This order never
came till II o'clock. We then imme-
diately took up the line of march; but
unfortunately losing the way, we did
not get there until the days battle
was over. The entire division, with
the exception of the 56th Ohio, took
position on the extreme right of our
army, and were the first troops to